page_title: Medium Transport Helicopter Regiment 25
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Medium Transport Helicopter Regiment 25 / History
caption_attribution_description: English: CH-53 (reg. 84+34) of the German Army at ILA Berlin Air Show 2012. Deutsch: CH-53 (Reg. 84+34) des deutschen Heeres auf der ILA Berlin Air Show 2012.
context_page_description: Medium Transport Helicopter Regiment 25 was a regiment in the German Army, part of the German Army Aviation Corps. It was based at Kurt Georg Kiesinger Barracks on Laupheim Air Base in the German state of Baden Württemberg, Southern Germany. The regiment was founded in 1971 and disbanded on 31 December 2012. Its sister regiment was Medium Transport Helicopter Regiment 15 based at Rheine Air Base.
  On 1 January 2013 the unit was re-established as Helicopter Wing 64 of the German Air Force, integrating those parts of the already existing Helicopter Wing 64 that were not handed over to the German Army.
context_section_description: Medium Transport Helicopter Regiment 25 was established at Laupheim Air Base on 1 April 1971, originally as Medium Army Aviation Transport Helicopter Regiment 25, with the disbanding of Army Aviation Battalion 200 and Army Aviation Maintenance Squadron 207. Both units formed the basis for the new regiment.
  Originally equipped with helicopters of the type Sikorsky H-34, the first years of the regiment's existence were used to train pilots in various skills in order to enable them to fly helicopters of the type Sikorsky CH-53 G/GS, the first of which were brought into service in October 1973. The initial batch consisted of 32 helicopters and had been fully delivered by 1975.
  Since its inception the regiment has been taking part in annual military exercises within the NATO structure but also with the French Army in the period following France's withdrawal from NATO's integrated military command in 1966 and France's return to full membership in 2009.
  In the aftermath of the Friuli earthquake in May 1976 Medium Transport Helicopter Regiment 25 took part in the airlift operation to fly supplies into the Northern Italian disaster area.
  In the course of a restructuring of the German Army, Medium Army Aviation Transport Helicopter Regiment 25 was renamed into Army Aviation Regiment 25 in 1979.
  In 1985, members of the regiment were on voluntary work deployment for the German War Graves Commission in La Valbonne, France.
  Following the Gulf War Army Aviation Regiment 25 provided humanitarian aid to Kurdish refugees in northern Iraq from April until the end of May 1991. Also starting in 1991, helicopters from the regiment were deployed in Iraq as part of UNSCOM. This mission ended in 1996.
  During wildfires in Greece in the summer of 1993, five of the regiment's helicopters were deployed to Larissa at the end of August in order to assist the fire fighting efforts by using "Smokeys", water-filled containers hung under the helicopters, for fighting the conflagrations. When the mission ended on 26 October 1993, about 1200 fire fighting mission had been flown.
  In 1994, after a restructuring of the German Armed Forces, during which a large number of bases were closed, Army Aviation Regiment 25 was given the honorary name Oberschwaben (i.e. Upper Swabia). In 1994, a number of Army Aviation units were disbanded. Some of the helicopters and personnel were subsequently assigned to Army Aviation regiments. Consequently, parts of Army Aviation Squadron 10, originally based at Neuhausen ob Eck Air Base, as well as parts of Mountain Army Aviation Squadron 8 from Landsberg-Lech Air Base, were relocated to Laupheim Air Base and integrated into Medium Transport Helicopter Regiment 25. Staff Squadron Army Aviation Command 2, already based at Laupheim Air Base, was also disbanded and assigned to Medium Transport Helicopter Regiment 25. All three squadrons were equipped with Bo 105M liaison and reconnaissance helicopters. Together they formed Staff and Air Operation Flying Detachment 251 and Staff Squadron Aeronautical Detachment 252. In 2003, these two detachments were separated from the regiment to form Army Aviation Support Squadron 10.
  Since 1995, parts of the regiment has been deployed in the former Yugoslavia, first as part of the NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force IFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina, flying missions into the most remote mountainous regions. The mission was later renamed SFOR. The participation of Army Aviation Regiment 25 ended in 2002.
  Also in 1995, the regiment flew fire extinguishing missions in Attica, Greece.
  In 1997, Army Aviation Regiment 25 provided disaster relief following the flooding of the river Oder.
  During an outbreak of wildfire in Greece in 1998, Army Aviation Regiment 25 flew fire extinguishing missions from Tanagra, Boetia.
  Five of the regiment's helicopters were employed to fly evacuation missions after the Galtür Avalanche in early 1999.
  From 1999 to November 2003, Army Aviation Regiment 25 was part of the German contingent of the NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo, KFOR.
  Since April 2002 A
caption: In 2012
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